Gunman plotting terrorist attack eliminated in Russia’s Samara Region

March 13, 2019 | Brainwave Science

SITUATION

A gunman plotting a terrorist attack was killed in a special operation in western Russia’s Samara Region, the National Anti-Terrorism Committee (NAC) told TASS on Wednesday. “This night during a search operation, the Russian Federal Security Service was informed that an armed person planning to carry out a terrorist attack was staying in one of private houses,” the anti-terror agency said.

The gunman, who had sheltered himself in a house, was asked to lay down arms and surrender to the authorities. “In response, he opened fire at the law enforcement personnel and used a combat grenade. During a quick armed clash, the gunman was neutralized,” the NAC said.

According to the NAC operations headquarters, the gunman was linked to an international terrorist group. “He maintained contact with gunmen who are abroad and had been planning to blow up an improvised explosive device in a place of mass gathering,” it said.

The gunman’s body has been preliminarily identified. Weapons, munitions and an improvised explosive device ready for use were uncovered at the scene.

There are no casualties among the law enforcement personnel and civilians, the NAC said. The security agencies are carrying out an investigation to find the gunman’s suspected accomplices.

CHALLENGE

It is extremely important to attack terrorism at its roots. The NAC must identify the allegiance of the terrorist and then attempt to track down the senior leadership. It begins with screening asylum seekers and refugees for any terrorism training, IED/bomb-making training, exposure to radical propaganda and brainwashing, etc. It all sounds good in theory but using conventional techniques to conduct these screenings is almost impossible and involves huge expenses.

Although ISIL had sustained significant losses in terms of manpower in Syria and Iraq, it had transformed into a network-based organization. ISIL’s cells sprawl across and beyond the Middle East towards Central and Southeastern Asia, and the African continent. To add to this surge of lone-actor terrorist acts in Europe, and the threat of foreign terrorist fighters taking advantage of migrant routes.

One cannot deny the importance of a comprehensive approach to countering terrorism, including preventive efforts of the relevant authorities in coordination with civil society. In the Russian Federation, such an approach is ensured by NAC and, over the past five years, resulted in the disengagement from terrorist/extremist activity of over 300 individuals.

Through annual meetings, Russia attempts to share intelligence information between relevant authorities. In this regard, NAC and FSB continue to maintain an International Counterterrorism Database (ICD), a project focused on developing a common antiterrorist information environment for security intelligence and law-enforcement operators worldwide.

In fact, the Chair of the Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) has remarked, “We must continue to strengthen our partnerships. We must ensure that, through our cooperation, collaboration, coordination, and joint efforts, our commitment and our capacities are stronger than before.”

The counter-terror, immigration and border control agencies need to quickly implement the most modern screening tools which can identify if a person has even a fragment of terrorism training. Existing techniques such as torture and interrogation are simply ineffective and inefficient when dealing with refugees and asylum seekers in huge numbers.

WHY ICOGNATIVE?

Brainwave Science is a company based in Massachusetts, US which has embarked on a mission to provide cutting edge technology to law enforcement and investigation departments. Its breakthrough technology, called iCognative is a boon for the investigation departments all over the world.iCognative is a technology which was brought order to the otherwise chaotic and unpredictable world of investigation and interrogation. Brainwave Science has introduced a cutting-edge tool which has all the desired characteristics and can reduce the workload of the investigating agencies while increasing the accuracy of the screening of suspects. This revolutionary tool in the field of forensic science is called iCognative. The cost of interrogation using iCognative comes out to be immensely lower than conventional interrogation. Popular techniques like DNA and fingerprinting are very limited in their applicability. DNA and Fingerprints are recovered in only 1-2% of the cases. Lie detector tests are not foolproof. An iCognative test is not only applicable to 85-90% of all civil and criminal cases but also, it has no known countermeasures. It does not report false positives or false negatives. It has a demonstrated accuracy of 99.9% in detecting EOD/IED bomb knowledge, uncovering high intelligence value individuals, and establishing links between a suspect and known terrorist networks, places and events. It is much more than a screening test. It can be used to effectively determine the level of involvement in terrorist activity, help identify potential threats, even those who are members of sleeper cells or those who have been inactive for years, help verify hierarchal and leadership structure within terrorist organizations, detect potential threats within asylum applicants and refugee camps, and validate the possible links from database analysis techniques and methodologies.

Counter Terrorism investigators have always envisaged a tool like iCognative. Now it is a reality and is being used by agencies all over the world to validate potential threats and terrorist activity with reliability and accuracy.

iCognative uncovers concealed information by measuring brain waves. The test subject is made to wear a headset and exposed to stimuli containing information gathered from the investigation of the crime. The stimuli can be images, words, and phrases related to the crime. The iCognative system analyses the brain’s response to the stimulus and identifies whether the incriminating information is ‘present’ or ‘absent’ in the brain.

In this case, when persons are arrested, they can be made to undergo the iCognative test. The stimuli can be IED/Bomb training manuals which they are said to have downloaded over the internet, propaganda material used to radicalize people, CCTV footage of the persons at important checkpoints, details of their communications and intercepts, details and pictures of the explosives and weapons recovered from the eliminated gunman, etc.

Every investigative agency across the world must have iCognative in their arsenal for fighting crime. It is only a matter of time before it will become the standard way to conduct a reliable and fair investigation.

iCognative is loved by counter-terrorism, investigators and the judiciary. This is because it is non-invasive, involves no torture, is easy to teach and learn, is highly portable and customizable in terms of language and function.

The NAC must use iCognative, provided only by Brainwave Science in their hunt for terrorists among the masses and to help put them behind them bars quickly.